Almost November, thank goodness for that!

It seems that politics and the current election have taken over my life. I watch it and read blogs, when I'm not watching it. I am now much more familiar with all the political pundits than I ever hoped to be. I don't like politics. I found it interesting when I was younger and there were people like John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., to listen to. And we all know how that ended. What has followed were too many years with the Republicans in power telling us that we should only be concerned about ourselves, shouldn't trust anyone else in the world because they are evil. . .

Hmmm, so much of that has a familiar ring to it. Where have I heard all that recently? Oh, now I remember - from the books that inspired this blog in the first place, Harry Potter. The dire warnings about "us" and "them" that the divisive campaign run by the Republicans are the same sort of thing that came from Cornelius Fudge, Rufus Scrimgeour (though he did turn out to have some honor), and Dolores Umbridge.

One of the things that Rowling did when she wrote Harry Potter (all the books), was to raise the awareness in people of all ages, but especially the young, that it is dangerous to blindly follow leaders without thinking for yourself. Study the issues, listen to both sides, read whatever you can to be informed. The fictional characters that did that in Harry Potter realized that the current Ministry of Magic was corrupt, had their own narrow agenda, and didn't have a clue how to fight the evil that threatened them all. They weren't willing to look beyond the end of their own wands, so to speak. It doesn't take much to see that the same applies to the current US administration. Rather than looking for real solutions to problems, the ones currently in power resort to fear mongering and flat out lying about anyone who is not "with us".

What we are now seeing is the last desperate effort of the Republicans to sway those undecided voters by playing on people's fears for the economy, especially. Don't be fooled by anything they say at this point. McCain and Palin haven't had anything consistent to say on their own behalf. Obama and Biden have the clear vision of what it will take to pull our country out of the mess that we are in.

If you are a US citizen, please VOTE on November 4. Terry and I already have voted, by absentee ballot. Now it's just a matter of waiting for November 5 to see if Americans have the common sense that I give them credit for having.

Pat